Beach Hacks for Families

Who doesn’t love the beach?! The coast is my happy place, and it means so much to me to be able to share my love of the ocean with my children. But it can be stressful to take your kids to the beach. Here are my tried-and-true beach hacks for kids and families!

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Wait Wait… Where Do You Park?

Before you even get out of the car at the beach, look up a few things!

For example, do you need a parking pass? Do you pay to enter per car or per person? Paid beaches obviously cost a bit of money but they’ll usually have more families and less, well, less loud drunk people. Plus if you can get there early and get a good spot, you’re set for the day! And most beaches close after dark, so consider where you’re going if you’re hauling an RV or plan to camp overnight.

Additionally, you’ll probably want to park close to restrooms and/or showers so that you can have quick access to plumbing and clean water to rinse off when you’re done. I mean, I’m not saying I’ve never peed in the ocean, but there are some things you just can’t do in the waves!

If you have a long way to go in the car, you can also check out my recommendations for how to have a happy road trip with kids.

Be Safe with the Sun and Heat

The number one tip: keep your kids from getting sunburned or overheated. That can get really dangerous, really quickly.

I recommend that you apply sunscreen and a sunspray and reapply at least as often as the product recommends. Set an alarm on your watch or phone so you don’t get sidetracked and forget! And remember that when you’re out on the water, you’re getting burned twice as fast: once from the sun coming down, and once from the sun that’s bouncing back up off of the water due to reflection.

As far as overheating, have your child wear light colors and a hat and/or sunglasses as appropriate. There are even swim shirts with SPF built in to help keep your kids covered at the beach! Keep children in the shade as much as possible; if they’ve been out in the sun for over twenty minutes, have them come back to the shade for a break and offer water. Once you’re thirsty, you’re already dehydrated.

Bringing an easy-to-assemble tent or a beach umbrella (that screws down into the sand) is ideal for having a shady oasis for your kids to retreat to; at the very least, open up the back hatch of your car and tie a tarp across (or use multiple cars for a bigger space). This is also great for naptime at the beach!

Pack a Cooler

Ok, this may seem obvious, but you want to keep tons of cool drinks on hand while your kid is out in the sun. Water is always best, but feel free to also offer diluted juice or Pedialyte if you need to.

Additionally, stuff the cooler full of ice and cold packs.

And finally, a tip I recently read about but have never tried: make ice cubes out of frozen fruit, or frozen juice. Then offer them in water for a flavored, hydrating treat!

Bring Tons of Water… And Not Just for Drinking!

We fill all of our large plastic jugs (and hell, even Tupperware) with tap water for washing off our bodies, rinsing hands before we eat, and using as a rinse in case of sunscreen in your eyes or a jellyfish sting. Not all of the water has to stay cold, either. We usually dedicate a container of water and an extra bucket and make a washing/rinsing station.

And, Of Course, Pack Snacks!

Being out in the sun zaps your energy. So pack lots of healthy snacks, like fresh fruit and granola bars. Think about quick energy – no processed sugars or other junk – and bonus if it’s not messy and doesn’t need to be cold. I tend to overpack on stuff so my kids have choices. Plus, man they eat a lot!

Other Safe Gear

Sunglasses and/or a hat are a great idea for sun protection, but that’s not the only beach hack to keep your kids safe. You can also get them to wear long-sleeved water shirts, beach shoes with a closed toe (much better for stepping on rocks and they won’t easily come off like flip flops), and light-colored swimwear which will reflect the sun’s rays.

I’ll add here that my husband and I each have waterproof phone cases; we actually don’t like the bulky expensive ones so we use these and have trusted them for years. Or, if you’re daring and cheap, try a zip-lock baggie.

The Circle of Life

We love biology and all things aquatic. We are always looking for ways to teach our kids about their world.

Shells are beautiful and fun to hunt for. But it’s also cool to see the wheels turn in your child’s mind when you teach them that shells are from dead sea life. Sand dollars, for instance, are actually rather purple and fuzzy when alive! So a shell is more like a skeleton than anything.

Likewise, coral is an animal and not a plant. And feel free to take home some shells but make sure you properly clean them by rinsing them in fresh water, and then boiling for five minutes and letting them air dry before packing them up.

And what about the tides and waves? Why are they perpetual? You can also teach about gravity, the moon, and how tides work. A quick look around to see who can spot the moon first, or a tour of the tide lines (if the tide is out, you can see the mark of the high tide up on the beach), or looking for tide pools that are only filled half the time… all are really interesting and engaging beach hacks that’ll also teach you something!

You can look up all kinds of cool stuff in advance that you can then check out with your kids – it’s one of those educational beach hacks and it’s fascinating!

Get a Close Look at Animals!

There are all kinds of animals you can watch and even handle when you’re at the beach!

Firstly, know which animals are not safe. For us at the Gulf of Mexico, that means man-o-war jellyfish, who are venomous even when they’re dead and washed up. So be sure that you know if something is safe or not (and when in doubt, don’t touch it!)

By the way, venomous means something that stings or bites you; poisonous is something that hurts you when you consume it. The more you know…

Secondly, feeding beach life like those adorably annoying seagulls can be wildly entertaining, but it’s like playing with fire – once you start it, you can’t necessarily control it. So wait until your car is packed up and you’re about to leave before you throw those silly birds some snacks. That is one of my most essential beach hacks! Plus… seagull poop. Everywhere.

By the way, it isn’t a bad idea to look up which foods are safe to feed to the local wildlife, from seagulls to fish bait to homemade crab traps. That article is from good ole Corpus Christi, Texas!

Thirdly, look for all kinds of life: in the sand, you can find small crabs and roly poly-ish creatures (which is actually a crustacean, and not an insect!). Our favorites were the little clams which burrow under the sand as soon as the wave retreats back out to sea. They’re all different colors and, when they die, leave behind a beautiful pair of shells. This article is great for getting some more information about beach dwellers.

And we sit butterfly-style in the sand and dig a pit in our laps to make a kind of pool which would be hit by the incoming waves. Be still and patient, and ready with a net and a small bucket. You can catch fish in your lap! It’s hilarious and a must-do beach hack every time we go. Plus, if anyone in your group likes to gulf fish, you get free bait!

Finally, learn how to be safe when in the water. You can see our quick video below on how to do the “stingray shuffle” which is a way to walk in shallow water so that you don’t get stung by accidentally stepping on something (in our neck of the woods, that would probably be a cownose ray).

Animals don’t seek people out to harm them, but we need to be real with our kids and teach them that animals will defend themselves. It’s up to us to be responsible and considerate.

Beach-Safe Toys

I won’t go into specific toys here as this isn’t about buying stuff, but it is fun to bring durable plastic or wood yard tools like shovels and rakes to the beach. Let your kids dig, dump water and sand, plan, build, and make patterns. As you can see below, my kids love to dig really close to the water line and let the waves fill up their moat for free! (This is another method of fish-catching too, as you can get all kinds of minnows and other little fish as the waves drop them into your pool!)

Of course you can also bring bubbles, sand castle equipment, buckets, and other toys; just please make sure that none of them get left behind as trash, and that they’re not messy or harmful to the ecosystem.

And For When It’s Time to Go Home…

We keep trash bags in the car for all the wet gear to go in; additionally, we fill at least two bags with trash that we find around our space, or when we go on a beach walk. It’s so so so important that our kids see us respecting and honoring our earth. Plus this is an easy, free way to give back.

We always pack a bag of extra clothes, and extra towels, that will only be used when we’re leaving. If possible, rinse off with some of that tap water I told you about. Or if you can find an outdoor shower – even if just to rinse off the salt and sand – it’ll help save your skin, hair, and car seats!

Leaving kids in wet, dirty swimsuits can increase their chance to get a UTI (urinary tract infection). So once you’re done swimming, I’d get them rinsed off and changed as soon as you’re able. Yes I’m paranoid.

And beware of tar! Tar is horrible, sticky, and stains like crazy. If your beach is going to have tar there, make sure that your kids wear crap shoes (read: that you’ll throw away when you leave) and maybe even clothes. Keep paper towels and baby oil handy for getting tar off of skin. That stuff is such a hassle!

Are you ready to go to the coast now? With these beach hacks I’m sure you and your kids will have a great time! Let me know in the comments about your experiences and suggestions, and of course thanks for sharing!